China launches its first aircraft carrier

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China’s first aircraft carrier — a refurbished Soviet vessel without a single
fighter to land on its deck — was formally handed over to the People’s
Liberation Army Navy yesterday as Beijing girds itself for an era of
intensifying maritime disputes and global projection of power.

The triumphant entrance into what the ship’s new captain, Zhang Zheng, called
“China’s carrier era” was timed as a show of strength amid territorial
disputes across the region.

China has been reported to have two indigenous aircraft carriers under
construction at the Jiangnan yard in Shanghai, although no evidence has been
found from satellite images. Western